Documents and Resources
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
The MAP Forum was initially created in 2008 as a result of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recommendations that the five MPOs of the Greater New York Metropolitan Transportation Management Area formalize the manner in which they coordinate on the development of transportation planning documents, as well as how they coordinate to meet the attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The MPOs collaborated to craft a Memorandum of Understanding, adopted by OCTC on June 12, 2017 in OCTC Resolution #2017-06, which addressed those recommendations.
Effective April 7, 2020, the Special Addendum to the MAP Forum MOU contains three (3) changes, which reflect the inclusion of the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG), Hartford, Connecticut as a member of the MAP Forum.
Under the terms of the Planning Coordination Memorandum of Understanding, the ten signatory MPOs agree to certain planning coordination activities, including:
- Exchanging information, discussing opportunities for collaborative activities, and engaging in consultations on the following program areas:
- Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)
- Modeling
- Long Range Transportation Plan
- Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), and
- Air Quality State Implementation Plan Conformity.
- Holding an annual meeting of the Executive Directors and appropriate key managers of the MPOs which are parties to the agreement, as well as interested policy board member agency representatives, including the public transit operating agencies and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Work Program
The MAP Forum meets periodically in person and via conference call to discuss and coordinate planning issues.
These meetings provide an opportunity for discussion among the key Metropolitan Planning Organizations in the multi-state region, in accordance with the provisions of the MOU. The purpose of these periodic meetings is to advance the efforts of regional planning, and to discuss and review areas of coordination, cooperation and consultation as outlined in the Planning Coordination MOU.